Note: Over the years, we have accumulated a considerable amount of Tekumel material. Our listing here is a selection from our holdings. We generally list items we believe visitors might want thumbnail descriptions of, or rarities that visitors may not have heard of.

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Background Materials

The Book of Ebon Bindings. by M.A.R. Barker. The Imperium Publishing Company, 1978. 83 pages, saddle stapled. (The Museum also possesses the Different Worlds/TOME reprint, 1991, 82 pages, perfect bound.)

A translation of one of the more powerful and ancient books of demonology available to Tsolyani sorcerers. The translator assures us that the spells have been defanged and will not work. Contains fascinating descriptions of some of the more prominent and well-known demonic beings, cautionary tales of what happens to mages who do not observe the utmost care in their summonings, and illustrations of some of the magical protective designs. Not suitable for children or the easily offended.

The Tsolyani Language, Part I and II. By M.A.R. Barker. Adventure Games, 1978. The Museum has the second printing, 1981. Two volumes, 130 pages, saddle-stapled.

An English-Tsoyani/Tsolyani-English dictionary, including a useful phrasebook and grammatical notes. Some editions came with an audiocassette pronounciation guide; our copy did not come with one, but we were able to obtain the pronounciation guide elsewhere.

Deeds of the Ever-Glorious: Histories of the Tsolyani Legions. By M.A.R. Barker. Adventure Games, 1981. 102 pages, saddle-stapled.

Capsule summaries of the histories of the Tsolyani legions. Provides information on history, military tactics, and some personalities. Not strictly necessary for either the role playing games or the miniatures rules, but a useful adjunct to either.

Northwest Frontier Map Set, by Thomas Thompson and M.A.R. Barker. Tekumel Games, Inc., 1986.

This product details 30 hexes on the original EPT game map, with information on local terrain, villages, and mysterious locations. Useful for miniatures wargaming, as it shows local terrain; useful for role playing, as it shows lots more detail than the large scale maps provided in the boxed sets. Neither Gardasiyal nor the new Tekumel: Empire of the Petal Throne games use hexes on their maps, so referees using these later rulesets will need to work a bit to fit the map.

Mitlanyal, by Bob Alberti and M.A.R. Barker, edited by Joe Saul, 1997. Pre-publication manuscript.

Detail on the twenty temples of Tsolyanu, including inner and outer doctrines, rituals, major holidays, areas where the temple is strong, secret socieites, aspects of the deities, and major clans and legions devoted to each god. In our opinion, Alberti does a wonderful job explaining what average Tsolyani believe, including an especially good description of how Stability and Change adherents manage to live in the same society.

Role Playing Accessories

The Nightmare Maze of Jigresh 1981 By Michael E. Mayeau, published by Judges Guild 14 pages, saddle stapled. Written for the original Empire of the Petal Throne.

This adventure has the party trying to map a complex maze, to find the treasure hidden deep within. Not a dungeon-crawl, a maze.

A Jakallan Intrigue, 1984. Written by Mark Pettigrew, published by Tekumel Games, Inc. 24 pages, 3 hole punched. Written for the original Empire of the Petal Throne.

A political thriller. The action begins at a party for the wealthy and powerful in Jakalla.

The Tomb Complex of Nereshanbo, 1984. Written by Mark Pettigrew, illustrated by Keith Nelson and Kathy Marschall. Published by Tekumel Games, Inc. 20 pages, saddle stapled. Dual statistics for Empire of the Petal Throne and Swords & Glory.

This is a typical dungeon adventure of the time, designed for beginning characters in Empire of the Petal Throne. Because it's EPT, the challenges tend to be more dangerous than for equivalent characters in D&D. Notice that although there are statistics for both EPT and S&G, the spells and game mechanics are for EPT.

Miniatures materials

Legions of the Petal Throne, 1977. Written by David C. Sutherland. Published by TSR Rules. 44 pages, saddle stapled.

The first set of miniatures rules for Tekumel, and a companion to Empire of the Petal Throne. Lovely art by David Sutherland and David Trampier (we feel it's the best of Sutherland's art in our collection). Includes a reprint of the article "Military Formations of Tekumel," originally published in The Dragon magazine, #7, and enough information to build armies from all of the Five Empires and a few of the minor states. A wonderful package, well worth it to the collector. These rules appear to be written for the total beginner, as they include information on creating and laying out terrain for battles.

Missum!: Miniature Rules for Tekumel, 1978. Written by Gary Rudolph. Published by the Imperium Publishing Company. 25 pages plus reference sheets, saddle stapled.

A fairly simple, basic set of rules without the extra information found in Legions of the Petal Throne. A more complex system was to be produced, Missumdalikoi! which probably morphed into the Qadardalikoi rules below. These are not as well produced or illustrated, and the Museum's copy is not in particularly good shape. Missum is rules only, with no army information.

Qadardalikoi: Miniatures Campaigns on the World of Tekumel, 1983. Written by Jeff Berry & M.A.R. Barker. Published by Tekumel Games, Inc. 70 pages, stapled.

The final published set of miniatures rules, still played at a few conventions, especially by miniatures dealer Andrew Lorince if you're lucky enough to catch him. These rules show the same comprehensive approach that Swords & Glory did, and could be considered a companion game. Well-illustrated, showing basic, sample terrain maps, seige weapons including Lightning Bringers (!), naval vessels, and typical soldiers from each nation, including a Tane soldier mounted on a Bazhaq. Also includes a reprint of "Military Formations of Tekumel," and data sheets for the major and minor nations, including sheets for undead and some creatures. A gem. Not for beginners, but otherwise a complete replacement for Legions of the Petal Throne.

Hordes of the Things, 1991. Written by Phil Barker, Sue Laflin Barker & Richard Bodley Scott. Publised by Wargames Research Group. 40 pages, saddle stapled.

A generic set of miniatures rules, HotT is simple to play. Written by a cousin of professor Barker's, HotT has information for playing out battles in a number of fantasy settings, including Conan's Hyborean Age, ERB's Barsoom, Brust's Vlad Taltos series, Glen Cook's Black Company series, and of course, Tekumel.

Chakaikh!, 1994. Written by Rob Smith and John Medway. Draft manuscript. 60 pages, plastic sprue bound.

An extreme rarity. This is a playtest version, designed to accompany the 15mm miniatures briefly produced by the Imperial Legion company in the 1990s. These rules are draft only, but even in this form they look nearly as good as some of the other miniatures rules we have. Museum staff actually played a battle with these rules.

The Armies of Tekumel

Volume I: Tsolyanu, 1978. By M.A.R. Barker, published by the Imperium Publishing Co. 69 pages, saddle stapled. Oddly, the cover is slightly larger than the pages.

Volume II: Yan Kor and Allies, 1981, by M.A.R. Barker, published by Adventure Games. 20 pages, saddle stapled.

Volume III: Mu'ugalavya, 1983, by M.A.R. Barker, published by the Tekumel Journal. The Museum owns a second printing by Tita's House of Games, 1997. 42 pages, saddle stapled.

Volume IV: Salarvya, 1983, by M.A.R. Barker, published by the Tekumel Journal. 28 pages, stapled.

Volume V: Livyanu and Tsolei, 1983, by M.A.R. Barker, published by Tekumel Games, Inc. 36 pages, stapled.

Volume VI: Shenyu, 1998, by M.A.R. Barker and Robert Brynildson, Tita's House of Games. 37 pages, saddle stapled.

These books are primarily adjuncts to the miniatures rules. They list all of the military units of the various empires, their arms and armor, commanders, unit strengths, and various combat statistics for the Missum set of miniatures rules. There are also painting guides for each of the units (as each legion has its own colors). There are small snippets of information here and there, but on the whole, these books are for the miniatures gamer. Some of these books, notably the originals of Volume III (we've seen it, but don't own an original printing), IV, and V were printed on a dot-matrix printer and the quality can be extremely poor, even all but illegible in some cases.

Minatures from M.A.R. Barker's World of Tekumel, no date (1982?). By M.A.R. Barker and Chirene Bakal, published by Tekumel Games, Inc. 28 pages, stapled.

A painting guide for the Old Guard/Ral Partha/Ph.D. Games line of 25 mm miniatures, now (2006) in limbo. There is some descriptive information and some interesting notes by the professor, but it's really only useful for painting miniatures.

Magazines

The Tekumel Journal #1, The Imperium Publishing Company. 1977. 24 pages.

This magazine had an article detailing worship of the god Thumis, biographies of a few important characters, an article on the meshqu plaques Tsolyani hang on their doors to indicate their general mood and willingness to entertain company, and The Splendour of Shenyu, a detailed discussion of the Shen in the home nation. (This last article was reprinted in Armies of Tekumel, Volume VI.)

The Imperial Courier, Vol 1 #1, August 1984.
The Imperial Courier, Vol 1 #3, December 1984.

This magazine briefly replaced the Tekumel Journal. Articles in #1 were on Yan Kor and dispatches from Andrew Lorince on his Fenul campaign. #3 had fiction, two dispatches about current events in other gamers' campaigns, an advice column from "Kayalen" on the degree of authority a junior officer in a legion has in dealing with bandits and infiltrators, and a discussion about how to role play Tekumel without being in the professor's own game. Both journals had attractive illustrations.

The Space Gamer #71, Nov/Dec 1984. 64 pages.

This was a special Tekumel issue, featuring a review of Swords & Glory, an interview with professor Barker, and capsule reviews of many products.

Different Worlds #47, Fall 1987. 46 pages.

Contains a two page spread illustrating the model Temple of Vimuhla built by the professor and his friends. No photos; drawings only. There are also advertisements for the Different Worlds reprints of EPT and part one of the Sourcebook.

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